Adding Worcestershire sauce to baked beans while they cook is the key to making them tastier, according to a food writer's experiment. The sauce's acidic quality cuts through the sweetness of the tomato sauce, allowing the strong tomato flavour to shine and introducing a savoury note without dominating the beans.
Why Worcestershire sauce works
Baked beans are typically sold in a simple tomato sauce with minimal seasoning, missing out on spice, smokiness, or herbal notes. Worcestershire sauce provides a combination of sweetness, spice, and saltiness, transforming the humble dish using ingredients likely already in your cupboard.
The Express writer Katherine McPhillips has been experimenting with ways to make beans more delicious and found Worcestershire sauce to be the absolute winner.
How to make baked beans taste even better
You will need: one can of baked beans, two slices of bread, one teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, grated cheese, a slab of butter (optional), and black pepper.
To start, pop the bread into the toaster, tip the tin of beans into a saucepan, and set it over a medium heat. Once the beans begin to simmer, pour in the Worcestershire sauce and season with black pepper. If you like, feel free to experiment with additional herbs and spices — smoked paprika is a great addition to the pot, though it's entirely optional.
Assembling the dish
Stir the baked beans for two minutes until they begin bubbling, then remove from the heat. Transfer the toast to a tray once it emerges from the toaster. Next, simply assemble your beans on toast. Spread butter generously onto the toast so it melts into the bread, ladle the baked beans over the top and scatter with grated cheese.
Drizzle a few drops of Worcestershire sauce over the cheese, then place in an oven preheated to 200°C for a further two minutes. When ready, your cheesy beans will emerge from the oven piping hot and bubbling away — the most delicious comfort food you can prepare in under five minutes.
